Sellers that are liars

B

bluestreak56

Veteran
 Maidenhead
So for some time I've been keeping my out on a potential replacement for our family run around / shopping cart / 1 mile travel drifter, our fantastic 2004 Hyundai Getz 1.1

Its a great little car and does everything we need it to. Its given us no problems in 6 years of ownership but I'd really like to get something to replace it with a little more pep and an automatic gearbox for dealing with the useless stop start traffic of west London.

I saw this 2009 VW Golf on Autotrader last week, listed at a low £7995 (now reduced) and thought it wasnt bad but still a little more than I'd like to pay:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201311179972777



I showed my dad but it seemed a little steep so kept searching. A week later (Sunday), I noticed the same car had popped up on ebay with a 99p start price and no reserve. It was a few days into the auction and had jumped to around £3000. I thought its not too far away we should go and see it. Unfortunately the seller could not meet till late evening that day and I really wanted to see the damage in the light (before 4pm). Anyway I spoke to him and deduced some more information:

- Iranian chap selling the car, just inherited from his father-in-law who recently passed away. His english was good enough but not perfect..
- Needs to sell as funeral costs are around £11,000 and he already has a car
- Only 1 previous owner is his father-in-law who was disabled
- Great car, minor damage, all good
- Last serviced Fed 2012 (long time) next due in 7000 miles, full VW service history (2 stamps in book)
- Both keys, V5 in his name, HPI check

Got him to send pics of the damage, service book, MOT, etc.

Service book looked ok but I noticed it had been serviced both times by VW in Bristol. I asked the seller and he told me thats where his father in law lived. Fair enough I thought.

A day before the auction ended I got a chance to go with my dad to see the car in the flesh and drive it. Chap met me in the Sainsburys car park, literally opposite his flat as the car park for his flats is restricted, ok fair enough.

He told me the car had no tax because the car was registered as motability. It also had no insurance as he hadnt any need for it. Ok so we can see the car and he said we can drive it round the car park. Looked around the car, it looked ok, one or two other minor scuffs to add to the damage listed. Rear wiper had been broken off and new one supplied in the boot. Nicely upgraded base model nothing to worry about. It drove fine up to 30mph (how fast can you go in a busy car park), braked fine, turned fine, etc. A little trim rattle and a little pinking which looked as though it was because it had been sat for some time.

The seller seemed really genuine, nice chap not too talkative and trusted us (and another guy who had turned up to see it) to drive it etc. He showed me the HPI check which was from before he bought the car, all clean. I was a bit worried it was from before he bought it though as finance may not have been listed. He showed me the v5 with previous owner Mr Finn on it. This seemed odd but could have been his father in law so left it as I had no reason to doubt him.

I noted the car had been MOT'd in leyton which is an hour from Kingston where the seller lived. When pressed he say his mother in law must have MOT'd it there. This didnt make too much sense to me but I kept looking around it.

Spoke to my father and thought, seems a decent car, its cheap, lets bid on it.

Later that night, I did some more research on similar cars on ebay and came across these two adverts:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2009-VOLKSWAGEN-GOLF-S-TSI-S-A-BLACK-/181243614893

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2009-VOLKSWAGEN-GOLF-S-TSI-S-A-BLACK-/171143970115

Exact same pictures, exact same advert, just a different telephone number. The car was sold for £7500 a month ago to a seller with the same number of ratings as the guy selling it now. Then it clicked. The guy selling it now, bought this car from Leyton 1 month ago on ebay and is selling it straight away. Why I thought? Couldnt be good whatever the reason.

So the next day, I rang the guy who originally sold it on ebay a month ago and spoke to him. He told me:

- He is a dealer
- He bought the car at auction
- It had a gearbox fault
- He spent over £3000 replacing the entire dsg gearbox
- The car is rock solid and in his mind worth £8000
- The guy who bought it (current seller) is an idiot who kept bugging him about the battery etc etc

I then researched more into DSG gearboxes and potential faults and found so much material I was put off. By this point I was fuming, the seller had lied to me about where he got the car, the history of it and hidden a massive possible time bomb in the gearbox replacement (no warranty etc). Obviously I didnt bid on the car and it ended up selling for £7367 to some unsuspecting buyer im sure:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2009-VOLKSWAGEN-GOLF-S-TSI-BLACK-LOW-MILLAGE-/281209383679

Just goes to show you cant trust anyone and for all their good HPI checks and history will never tell you the whole story.

When I tried to call the seller he wouldnt take my calls but said he could text, when I confronted him he said I dont want any trouble, I believe in Karma, if its a bad car I deserve what I get, etc, etc.

I told him good luck.

Anyone else had this much grief when buying or similar liars??
 
Yes ... Loads of idiots out there. When I was 20 and at uni, I wanted a 206 gti and nothing else. So off hunting we went, my dad drove me miles to see numerous cars including a couple of 206GTs as well as GTIs for any Peugeot buffs.

We traveled with cash every time simply because we were traveling over 100 miles for some of them and if they were right wed be buying there and then as it wasn't a phenomenal amount of money to be blowing.

So we'd specifically check if the car was as described , and "yes yes it is MINT MATE, MINT" every time. 3-4 times we did this, only to inspect the car and find rust/bodged repaired/bubbling quarter panels etc etc. Blatantly not going to buy it and walked away with some head shaking at the seller. Do they think if they lie on the phone, you turn up and it is different then you will just go for the car anyway? Thick annoying lying schmucks :-)

So yes ... Frustrating times for you

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there. a couple of years ago i had an mr2 turbo. i sold it onto a young kid locally who had only recently passed his test and was used to driving around in his mg hatch. anyway, i did warn him when i sold it to him that he should never put his foot down in the wet or whilst going around corners. a couple of months later a work colleague told me he saw my car half way up an embankment off a roundabout all smashed up. he obviously didnt listen to me.

a month later, it was listed on ebay showing all the damage front and rear. it got sold onto someone and i thought that was the end of it

anyway, another month or two later and it appeared on an mr2 forum with some guy selling it fully repaired. he said he had bought it a few months back and he needed to sell it on. it got me a little annoyed that he had obviously bought it cheap to do up and sell on to some unsuspecting enthusiast and he had just joined the forum to try and sell it on. suffice to say i let everyone know exactly what had happened to the car previously and for anyone who didnt believe me and wanted proof to check out the car thoroughly around the front end

i've had a few cat c/d cars before and always advertised them as such when i came to sell them on
 
Happens a lot.

You did your homework and discovered the real story behind the car and TBH it didn't sound that bad, the dealer even said it was a good car when he had no reason to say it. The gearbox fault was fixed and despite my pessimistic nature I think searching the internet for regular faults on any car is a bad idea. You can put yourself off anything. It's the Porsche IMS, BMW N47 timing chain, VAG DSG horror effect. You can read the stories but chances are you won't know anyone that's had first hand or even second hand experience of the fault.

Any car less than 5 years old. Buy a warranty.
 
I am compiling questions to ask sellers for when my car search starts next year. Designed to catch out blaggers and con merchants, any unsatisfactory answers and I'll walk away.

If it doesn't feel quite right, chances are it won't be...

Sorry to hear you've been messed about


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
For the record if your car is registered disabled you still get a tax disk but it's rated as nil value. It will also say on the V5 tax classification: disabled.
 
We have an outfit called Carfax, it searches all registrations and insurance claims against a vehicle in North America. Costs about $60 for a report and well worth it.

My Audi was hit when it was a week old, cosmetic damage to the right rear but the claim was over $8000. That is what showed up on the Carfax when I transferred the lease, needless to say it devalued the car but unfortunately insurance claims don't count the devaluation of the vehicle when they pay...... in any case, Carfax works for me. The Carfax on my Boxster showed all the claims and they matched what the seller told me. all cosmetic and well fixed too. I got a Carfax report on my other car too, perfectly clean.
 
I remember before getting the XKR, I really wanted a TVR...

38.... yes 38 cars later, and numerous RAC/AA checks I came to the conclusion most of the owners have no idea how to maintain cars, and their idea of "mint" is on level my description of "a pile of shite"

Sad that people do this... but then most sellers always see their car through rose tinted glasses... much like parents and their annoying little brats... 8)

:thumbsup:
 
It's very annoying I remember looking for my last Celica and saw some absolute wrecks that we're advertised as mint same thing happened when looking for my Z. I think you get better at spotting things though my Z had a very basic advert but highlighted small things like wheels could do with a refurb some marks on the bottom of the bumper. The car was as described when I went to the dealer and everything else checked out fine. It was a pretty painless buying experience if only more dealers were like this.

When my Dad was looking for his Lexus earlier in the year the dealer he got his from admitted to using someone else's pictures of a different car when he first advertised the car online. He was almost surprised we pulled him up on it though that I thought was amusing. Thankfully the car checked out and my Dad got what he wanted. I think dealers & private sellers think all buyers are stupid though and won't check things out.
 
It's scary how much of this goes on, and a total pain when people waste your time like that.

I recently bought a new car for the Mrs. A Toyota Yaris diesel. Went to look at one which was advertised locally with just 21k on the clock. I went down, gave it a thorough once over, and it was a nice, clean example. Last thing I checked was the mileage. It had 58k on the clock.

I asked the dealer what was going on (double checked the advert on my phone first, to make sure I hadn't got it muddled with another) and was told if I came back tomorrow it would have 21k on it ;-)

I walked away and reported it to trading standards...
 
Yep fully agree, though my experience is with actual dealers that lie. Looked at a Volvo in Shipley a couple of years back, looked nice and I was told it was mint.

I drove it and the dash was completely dead, the steering switched violently on different road surfaces etc and I went home worried but was assured it would all be sorted before purchase. It was around £3k.

So silly me I place £200 deposit as I'd been looking ages and though I'd trust them. Silly.

At home I start some investigation, getting prior MOTs sent to me and calling Volvo for history.

The car was a nightmare with many mot failures on damaged suspension, oil leaks from engine and gearbox, issues with steering rack, you name it. So I immediately call the dealer who tells me there's nothing wrong with it and they've replaced the dash dials with another unit and it's now at a completely different mileage showing. Final straw and say I don't want it as I'd discovered years of issues. They told me they'd keep the deposit and to fvck off. Their words.

Stunned I spoke with the bank about the deposit being charged back who said no as the transaction was legit.

A £200 lesson well learned.
 
Majority of sellers are liars in one form or another. Not many that aren't. Ranging from a teeny white lie to a whopper.

Before I get spanked, I only said 'most' not 'all'.

Well done for catching him out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom